On a poster showing an olive branch, a white dove, a rifle and a bullet, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party stated that it has not "thrown down the rifle." :

"Fatah - We have not taken up the olive branch in order to throw down the rifle. We have taken up the olive branch in order to give the land of the olive trees its identity back. Let all those who lose their way know that Fatah will remain the beacon of the [Palestinian] cause."

[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," Jan. 21, 2015]

To further legitimize its continued commitment to the armed struggle, Fatah quoted Mahmoud Abbas in another Facebook post, showing that he is an advocate of armed struggle:

Text on poster of Abbas: "I am not one to surrender. When Fatah launched the armed struggle, we were nine members. Four of us supported the armed struggle, and four opposed it. My vote tipped the scales in favor of the armed struggle. But everything in its time."

Fatah and its senior officials often reiterate their adherence to the armed struggle. Recently, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki "emphasized that it is the right of the Palestinian people to use all forms of resistance, including armed struggle." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 5, 2015] Fatah also continues to express its veneration for the rifle, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Fatah does this extensively on Facebook using visuals, as in the following examples:

A poster marking Fatah's 50th anniversary
shows a large bullet, and a masked man
armed with a rifle inside the bullet's tip. The text in Arabic and

English repeats Fatah's slogan "Revolution until

victory" and additional text says: "For Palestine - the nation and the land." [Facebook page of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission, Dec. 28, 2014] This picture also appears as the profile picture of the official Facebook page of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission.

Posted text: "We, Fatah members, were and continue to be the closest to the trigger of the rifle."

Text on image: "Fatah - the first stone and the first bullet."

[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page,"
Jan. 24, 2015]

To emphasize the praiseworthiness of the armed struggle, Fatah also honored one of the planners of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972."Yours is the greatness of men and the pride of heroes, for you fell as a Martyr while fighting," Abbas' movement wrote, honoring Ali Hassan Salameh, "the Red Prince,"who was a commander of operations of the Black September terror group. In the same post on Facebook, Fatah praised itself as "the ongoing revolution and the torch of the armed struggle." [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", Jan. 21, 2015]

The following are longer excerpts of some of the items mentioned above:

Text on image: "Martyr (Shahid) Commander Ali Hassan Salameh, the Red Prince, the commander and the founder; on the 36th anniversary of [his death], his memory will remain forever in our hearts. Fatah - the ongoing revolution and the torch of the armed struggle."

Posted text: "Red Prince, yours is the greatness of men and the pride of heroes, for you fell as a Martyr while fighting."

[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", Jan. 21, 2015]

Ali Hassan Salameh - Commander of operations of the Black September terror group. He planned many terror attacks, including the attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics in 1972, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered.

Headline: "Jericho Marks 50th anniversary of the launch of the Palestinian revolution"

"The masses of the Jericho and [Jordan] Valley district marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Palestinian revolution with a mass celebration yesterday [Jan. 4, 2014] at the residence of the District Governor of the Jericho and [Jordan] Valley district...

Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki... emphasized that it is the right of the Palestinian people to use all forms of resistance, including armed struggle. [He added that] at this difficult and sensitive stage, we have succeeded, through our popular resistance and our diplomacy, in isolating Israel, which has become a liability for its allies."